King County Metro drivers gathered Friday to remember their colleague Shawn Yim, who was killed last month while on duty.
Along 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, it was metro buses as far as the eye can see. The procession made its way from the SoDo neighborhood to Seattle Center before looping back toward the stadiums for a memorial service at WAMU Theater.
Metro said it would allow any driver who wants to take part in the procession to join their bus to this convoy. They did so to memorialize their fellow driver Yim, who was stabbed by a passenger in the University District, and to draw attention to safety issues they say operators have to deal with every day.
Speakers at the event remembered Yim as a warm presence in the driver's seat, always smiling and wearing his trademark orange vest.
"I will miss seeing him driving his bus, always wearing his vest, waving at all the other operators on the road. He embodied the spirit of the community in which he served," said Latrelle Gibson, a friend of Yim’s, and a fellow driver.
The Amalgamated Transit Union organized the memorial. The union is advocating for more safety measures for drivers, including barriers on buses and more police presence on public transit.
"Our demands for safety after this painful tragedy must be met in this year. We won't wait again for another 26 years or for another murder," said ATU local president Greg Woodfill, referring to the fatal shooting of a bus driver in 1998.
Police arrested a man after the killing. He is being held in King County Jail on murder charges.
